In Priceless, author and lead counsel Lloyd Constantine relates the dramatic account of backroom strategizing and courtroom conniving during the high-stakes litigation. Constantine, who led the team representing the plaintiffs, vividly describes how the case pitted retailers against credit card companies, and pries the lid off dodgy debit card practices. The plaintiffs, including Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck, The Limited, Safeway, and a class of five million stores, pitted their financial futures against Visa and Mastercard in this war between giants.In the vein of breakout bestsellers like A Civil Action and A Confederacy of Fools, this fast-paced narrative, peppered with larger-than-life characters, tears open the case and shows readers how the more than $3-billion-dollar settlement came about. The riveting story features cameos by lawyers, judges, and businessmen, including then University of Arkansas law professor Bill Clinton and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The triumph is also a David and Goliath tale, in which a small boutique law firm beats four of the largest law firms in the world, including London-based law firm Clifford Chance

As reported earlier, beginning next week, rates charged by Visa and MasterCard and its member banks will again change. [ScanMYPhotos.com] received out letter of rate changes two weeks ago.

Two times each year, we receive the same formatted letter and confusing pricing matrixes that explain rates for accepting credit and debit cards are again changing. This time, it comes as U.S. Senator Chris Dodd proposes a significant change to these unfair fees. Any rate reduction must be met with recognizing the years of illegal profiteering from price-fixing by MasterCard, Visa and its member banks and issue refund for those overcharges -amount is in the hundreds of billions.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd is coming out swinging again at banking fees, saying he will push for more changes in credit card fees — this time those paid by merchants — even as he seeks to limit bank income from overdraft charges.

Dodd said Wednesday that he will propose legislation to “substantially modify” the fees that merchants pay so they can accept major credit cards and have those transactions processed through banks. Dodd, architect of credit card reform signed into law in May, previously indicated that he next intended to take aim at “interchange” or “swipe” fees.

“Every state you go to, you hear it from retailers,” Dodd said. “The fees are excessive.”

While health insurance executives are earning as much as a hundred thousand dollars EVERY hour, watch this humorous video to show the extreme parallels between health insurance and credit card company windfalls.

This has been a multi-billion dollar annual boondoggle for the banks at the expense of millions of consumers. The larger question is why haven’t the banks also addressed merchant interchange fees – which account for substantially more unfair costs to businesses and consumers?

It was the public outcry, an NBC Nightly News segment and extensive media coverage on debit card overdraft fees that helped cause this very rapid shift in policy. It is also being used as a marketing tool, as the credit card issuers can now promote they have waived and adjusted the terms of these overdraft fees to better compete. However, there is no competition when it comes to merchant interchange fees; retailers are still forced to accept Visa and MasterCard’s terms. Issuing banks can simply pass along any lost overdraft fees with higher merchant interchange fees, which simply means that ultimately the consumer still gets screwed.

My five-year legal battle as class-representative in an antitrust class-action against Visa, MasterCard and its member banks continues to reap unsubstantiated profits for the credit card companies with even greater costs.

Merchant interchange fees are an insult that is an atrocity and slap in the face of every consumer and merchant that accepts debit and credit cards. Along with the banks, which until Visa and MasterCard’s IPO’s controlled one-hundred percent of the two giant credit card associations, are continuing to wage a battle against its customers. If only they listened to their critics addressing these equally excessive charges.

You just have to watch this how-to video. The key facts about illegal antitrust price-fixing are omitted, as are the reasons why merchant interchange fees in the U.S. are upwards of six-times what other industrialized nations pay. Remember, this video and the organization promoting it is funded by the banks and Visa and MasterCard.

The problem is that few understand what these fees are; it is a hidden tax on consumers – amounting to upwards of $48 billion in anticompetitive charges each year. As proof, since this video was posted, only about 450 people viewed it, which my guess was largely from those who produced it.

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WayTooHigh.com: The Credit Card Interchange Report, is edited by Mitch Goldstone, co-founder of California-based ScanMyPhotos.com, the international online photo preservation service.
Goldstone and co-owner, Carl Berman are also the lead plaintiffs and class representatives in a antitrust class-action litigation against Visa, MasterCard and major banks that was filed in 2005.
This informational web site was created to provide news and commentary updates only. None of the information posted on WayTooHigh.com is intended to constitute legal arguments; it reflects only the opinions of its co-editors and not of any other plaintiffs or other parties involved in the merchant antitrust litigation. The information is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or current. We make no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy or reliability of the information posted by WayTooHigh.com or at any other Web site to which this site is linked. (c) 2010